


The Fourth Trimester

by nihilistshiro



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Parents, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Keith is insecure about his parenting skills, M/M, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 11:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20599835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nihilistshiro/pseuds/nihilistshiro
Summary: Fourth Trimester - the first three months after a baby is born. A period of great change and development for a newborn as they adjust to their new world outside the womb.Keith and Lance are new parents and Keith especially is experiencing some growing pains.





	The Fourth Trimester

**Author's Note:**

  * For [renten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/renten/gifts).

> A special thank you to renten ([@UsagiYoongi](https://twitter.com/UsagiYoongi) on Twitter) who requested this Klance fic!! Klance fluff as young parents ToT SO SOFT!!!
> 
> I appreciate you so much! Thank you thank you!

Keith looked down at the wailing baby in his arms and wondered for the millionth time if he was going to be a horrible father.

Nora’s pink face was scrunched as if she’d just tasted a sour grape, her eyes squeezed tight, mouth flung open so she could wail at Keith for his incompetence.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, holding her against his chest and rocking her back and forth. 

He turned his head, rubbing his nose along her soft crop of dark hair. 

Nora was six weeks old and Keith was exhausted. She hadn’t slept through the night yet and while Lance was the one who initially put her to bed, Keith had the first shift when she woke up again and it took him forever to get her to go back to sleep.

Of course, he could probably wake Lance up and ask for his help, but his husband was exhausted, too. Lance had the early morning shift which usually meant a stinky diaper.

Lance was carrying his weight. It was Keith who was falling behind. 

Nora let out another shrill cry, her small body shaking in Keith’s arms.

“There, there,” he cooed, switching her over to his right arm when it felt like the left was falling asleep. 

She quieted some and Keith stood from the rocking chair and walked back and forth, back and forth in front of the windows.

Her nursery was big, but then again Lance had insisted on buying a big house shortly after they got married, and as a VP at one of the largest ad agencies in the city, he could afford it. Lance had a big family and when they had kids, he reasoned, they’d need the space.

Nora’s room was about the size of Keith’s first apartment and Lance had spared no expense decorating it. 

The windows were dressed with gauzy curtains, the color of seafoam. The crib was wood, woven with thick strips like a basket and stood tall on four curved legs. Above it hung a round canopy that draped white fabric around one side, a mobile situated in its center that dangled shapes of sea creatures.

The floor was covered in a fuzzy, shag carpet that reminded Keith of marshmallows every time he walked on it. The changing station was the same caramel brown as the crib, and it sat along an accent wall that boasted large-print wallpaper of swirling, blue and white waves.

Keith’s bare feet slid along the carpet as he continued his pacing and watched Nora's face smooth out.

He sighed in relief, carrying her over to the crib and gently setting her down on the thick cushion, the mobile spinning slowly above her. 

Keith covered her with her favorite blanket and closed his eyes savoring the quiet, the whir of the white noise machine in the corner the only sound in the nursery.

Keith turned, his hand lifting the ratty band t-shirt from college he still slept in, scratching the dark hair of his happy trail. Finally, he could—

It started as huffed whines, a rumble of hiccuped gasps that quickly escalated into one long burst, then another. 

Nora's sobs rang in Keith's ears like gunshots. 

He darted back over to the crib and pulled her into his arms. 

“No! No, no, no, no, no,” he whispered to the baby. “What’s wrong? What happened? We were doing so good!”

Nora was uninterested in his pleas and continued her screaming, her tiny hands balled into fists that she flung up and out, tears streaming down her plump, flushed cheeks.

Keith lifted her up, sniffing at her diaper through the purple cotton onesie she wore that read ‘Space Cowboy’ with a picture of an astronaut in a cowboy hat. (It had been a gift from Pidge).

Nora didn’t need a diaper change, thankfully, so he rocked her some more, hoping that the movement would calm her as it had earlier. 

“Come on, Nora, you know you want to go to sleep. How good does that sound? Nice comfy bed.”

Keith walked over to the crib as if to show her. He hiked her up on his hip, holding her with one arm while he reached down and grabbed the stuffed hippo that was resting on a nearby steamer trunk. 

“Look, it’s Mr. Hippo. He’s your favorite.”

Nora paused and looked at the toy, but he knew it wasn’t going to work based on her expression, her miniature features curled in displeasure.

“Hmmm, what about this?” Keith dropped Mr. Hippo and went over to the bottle he’d brought in earlier. It was still warm and he gently rubbed it against her lips, the way his mom showed him.

She was still displeased, her sour grapes look grating on Keith’s last nerve, his ebony hair pulling free of his messy bun, bloodshot eyes dry and itchy. How the fuck could Lance do this so easily, but Keith was so incompetent? 

He felt lower than low, swearing to himself as he set the bottle down, his head throbbing.

“Please, Nora, I’m begging you. If you go to sleep now, I’ll get you a pony when you’re older.” Nora continued her wailing. “A motorcycle? Anything!”

Few sounds compared to the unbridled agony of an inconsolable newborn. The screeching of an ambulance as it sped by. A smoke detector tripped by dinner plans gone South.

But still, the sound of Nora’s misery was like nails on a chalkboard. Her pain made Keith feel ten times worse, and his heart ached for her to find release from whatever was causing it.

“Please, baby,” he whispered into her hair as he held her close. He was on the verge of tears himself. “Please calm down. I love you. It’s okay. Please.”

“Babe?” Lance’s voice was groggy, his hair mussed from sleep. 

“What time is it?”

“I have no idea,” Keith answered. “I feel like I’ve been here forever and I’m never gonna get her to go to sleep.”

Lance walked over to the clock by the baby monitor. “2:00 a.m. Oof.”

He shuffled over to Keith, basketball shorts hanging low on his hips, his chest bare, revealing the single tattoo he had—a very traditional looking red heart with a ribbon wrapped around it that read _ Keith. _ He’d gotten it early on in their relationship after losing a bet. 

“She’s not hungry or stinky,” Keith said as Lance came up behind him and rested his chin on Keith’s shoulder. 

“Mr. Hippo?”

“I tried that, but she wasn’t buying it. I had her down at one point, but as soon as I went to leave she started up again.”

Lance let out a huff of laughter. “Figures.”

He reached around Keith’s arm to stroke Nora’s hair. She stiffened at the contact, but Lance wasn’t deterred and continued his ministrations despite her temper.

“I read something the other day about a thing called the ‘fourth trimester’ and I think it might explain what’s going on with her.”

“Fourth trimester?” Keith asked, trying to focus on Lance’s voice with Nora’s cries droning on around them.

“Yeah. I guess it’s a thing where babies have a really hard time adjusting out of the womb for the first three months. They’re used to being all cozy and liquid and stuff.”

Keith chuckled. They’d been together for over seven years and he was still amazed that Lance had the ability to soothe him with his presence alone. 

If only the same were true for Nora.

“So what do we do?” Keith asked, turning as Lance circled his arms around Keith’s waist, holding him and Nora close.

“Well, there’s not a ton that we can do that we’re not already doing.”

“Shit,” Keith muttered.

“Not around the baby!” Lance hissed, lifting his hands to cover Nora’s ears, smiling in spite of his faux bluster.

They both started laughing, their eyes locking, glinting in the low light of the moon that filtered in from the windows.

"What if we put her crib in the bedroom?" Lance asked.

"Like. Next to our bed?"

"Yeah. I mean we're only halfway through the fourth trimester. At least this way we'll be right there and won't have to walk all the way down here."

"Good point."

"Ok, you take Nora and I'll bring the crib."

Keith turned to leave.

"Oh, I also heard that skin on skin contact is good for this sort of thing. You should take your shirt off."

"Tch. You just want me to get rid of this old shirt."

Lance smirked, glad he kept a steady workout routine as he hoisted the crib and followed Keith out of the nursery.

"Actually," he said, grunting as he shifted for a better position, "I'm just being selfish and want you shirtless at all times."

Keith chuckled. Nora had gone from screaming to confused warbling as they left the room for the short walk down to the master suite. Lance managed to navigate the hallway with the bulky furniture in tow. 

They got situated, setting the crib next to their king sized four-poster.

"Let's put her down and see if she'll drift for a bit."

Keith set Nora in the crib, loosely wrapping her in her blanket and planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

She whimpered, sniffling and kicking before she decided that was too much work.

"Get in here," Lance said from beneath the covers. 

He held them open as Keith climbed into bed. "This parenting thing is exhausting but I'm glad you told me about the fourth trimester thing. Makes me feel less like a fuck up."

"Hey." Lance reached out, cupping Keith's jaw. "You're not a fuck up. You're a great dad. You love our kid and you're trying. That's pretty important."

"Yeah," Keith said, averting his gaze.

"Hey, no, look at me. I'm so happy to be raising a kid with you. You're the only person I'd want to dad with. I love you. You're the light of my world."

Keith swatted at Lance's shoulder.

"I'm serious," Lance continued. "We're in this together, Kogane."

"Whatever you say."

They smiled at each other in the darkness before bringing their lips together with practiced ease.

"Do you hear that?" Lance asked, whispering against Keith's mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The bedroom was silent, Nora fast asleep next to their bed.

"Now I want to cry," Keith said. "I'm so relieved."

Lance let out a soft laugh. "Me too."

Keith rolled over and Lance pulled him snug against his chest.

“I love you," he said into the curve of Keith's throat.

Keith sighed, relaxing against Lance's warmth. "I love you, too." 

It didn’t take long for them to drift off into a peaceful sleep. 

At least for the next half hour.

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU AGAIN RENTEN!!! 
> 
> You can find me on Twitter! [@nihilistshiro](https://twitter.com/NihilistShiro)


End file.
